When you first learn about media, either at uni or at high school, you learn about bias, spin and they way different media outlets report and portray different events.
It is nothing for different parts of the media to report the same story two totally opposite ways.
That talent is also not lost on politicians, especially when dealing with the media.
Last Friday, I was one of the 100 or so politicians, journos, pipe contractors and hangers on ‘taken hostage’ by about 70 farmers at Colbinabbin.
We were there for the official turning on of the Colbinabbin to Lake Eppalock pipeline, but the farmers were there for a different reason.
They were there to protest the state government’s plan to build a pipe from the same system to Melbourne, a plan that also includes upgrading the irrigation system to save hundreds of billions of litres a year.
The farmers used their tractors, trucks and utes to block all the entrances and stop Premier John Brumby from leaving for more than an hour.
To his credit, Mr Brumby spoke with the farmers for almost half an hour, answering most of their passionate questions.
However, that didn’t lead to an immediate lifting of the blockade.
The farmers illegally drove into crown land, were asked to leave and didn’t (trespassing).
Mr Brumby foolishly accused the farmers of being Liberal and National Party stooges. They were not. The were organised, but they were simply farmers in fear of their future.
They had a message, legitimate in their eyes, and they took drastic action to make a point.
A larger-than-usual police presence ensured they didn’t get out of control and were on hand to escort Mr Brumby out when the farmers voted to end their protest so the journos could go back to Melbourne and the story could make it onto that evening’s news.
A couple of days later, a group of anti-something-or-other protestors broke into the Loy Yang power station in Gippsland and chained themselves to a coal conveyor belt.
The ensuing six-hour wait saw power generation halved for most of the day.
That action prompted an interesting press release from Victorian Nationals leader, the well-respected Peter Ryan.
"Leader of The Nationals Peter Ryan says community safety is put at risk whenever illegal protest action diverts police resources from normal activities," it opened with
Headed ‘Ryan Slams Protest Action’, the release quoted Mr Ryan as saying the issue of diverting police resources from normal operations was a major concern.
"More than 20 police personnel had to attend the protest at Loy Yang which meant resources had to be diverted from other stations to cover the Latrobe Valley," he said.
"If there had been another major accident or incident requiring a significant police presence in Gippsland, our resources would have been stretched to the limit.
"I’m concerned that the selfish action of protestors is placing community safety at risk."
Hearing police at Colbinabbin say to protestors: "If we weren’t here doing this we would be somewhere else", Mr Ryan’s comments sparked an obvious contradiction.
A quick email to Mr Ryan’s chief of staff, media advisor and former Gippsland journo Darren Chester asked what Mr Ryan thought of the farmers at Colbo who, too, tied up police resources.
Were they "placing the community at risk"?
Not so, according to Mr Chester, who said the most obvious point of difference was the "nature of the protest". Was that the nature of the protest or of the protestors?
Anyway, he promised to run it by Peter, and 15 minutes later I received a phone call from the leader himself.
"I feel a long bow coming on here," he said.
He said resources were already at Colbo because of Mr Brumby’s visit
"Otherwise they did nothing more than present their case," he said.
"That has to be contrasted with the four fools who broke into Loy Yang without permission and shackled themselves to the station.
"Who also caused a major disruption to local policing by requiring another 20 officers to be called to the scene.
"The comparison is stark. Any nexus to be drawn between the two events is ridiculous."
Having covered a number of anti-globilisation, G8, S11, P76, you-sunk-my-battleship protests, I do not have a modicum of respect for the violent protests we will see in Sydney over the next week or so.
They achieve nothing. They simply turn people off the cause.
However, a good old fashioned stonewalling or blockade is always guaranteed to get the right sort of attention. Provided, it seems, that you have the right sort of message.
Last Friday, I was one of the 100 or so politicians, journos, pipe contractors and hangers on ‘taken hostage’ by about 70 farmers at Colbinabbin.
